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She called 911 and reported the blast, then knocked on the only other door in the hallway, but no one answered. The fire seemed to be contained to Jack's apartment, and it was slowly sinking in that when she'd touched the doorknob, she'd set off an explosion, and that realization rattled her more than the blast.

If Tyler hadn't grabbed her, hadn't pulled her away…

She couldn't think about that now, she thought, forcibly shaking it out of her. Tyler hadn't come back yet, and the smoke had gotten thicker.

Moving closer to Jack's doorway, she yelled, "Tyler, are you okay? Are you there?"

She heard the sirens, but they still seemed very far away.

"Tyler," she yelled again.

Finally, he came through the doorway with a kitchen towel covering his mouth, his eyes watering, his face streaked with ash.

She felt incredibly relieved but had to ask the terrible question hovering on her lips… "Jack?"

"He's not in there," Tyler said tersely. "Didn't I tell you to get out of here?"

Before she could answer, the sirens got louder, followed by shouts, and the sound of thundering feet. Two firefighters came down the hall, asking if anyone else was inside. Tyler told them one of the tenants had left, but he didn't know about the other.

She jumped in, saying that she'd knocked on the door, and no one had answered.

"We'll take it from here," one firefighter said. "Do you need help to get out?"

"No," Tyler said. "I'm Tyler Brennan, FBI. There was an incendiary device triggered by a sensor on the doorknob. The explosion was contained to the apartment. The tenant isn't inside."

"Tell my chief that." The firefighter waved them toward the stairs.

They made their way outside, seeing a crowd of people gathering on the sidewalk as fire engines blocked the street. Tyler stopped to speak to the incident commander, while she wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at the building, still shocked at how close she'd come to being caught in the explosion.

Thank goodness the blast had been contained to Jack's apartment, which made her realize that he'd been the target. No one would have expected them to show up there. That bomb had been set for Jack.

She felt sick at that thought. No wonder Jack had been so terrified last night. Someone was trying to kill him. But why?

Tyler joined her. "Everyone is out of the building."

"That's good." As he uttered a raspy cough, she wondered just how much smoke he'd inhaled. "Are you all right? Maybe we should check your oxygen levels."

"I'm fine, Doc."

"I'm sure you'd say that no matter how you felt."

"I really am okay. How about you?"

"A little shaken," she admitted. "That was close."

"I should have been in front of you," he muttered with a frown.

"You realized what was happening before I did."

"Well, bombs are more my line of work than yours."

"That was for Jack, wasn't it? Someone wanted to kill him."

"It looks that way." He folded his arms across his chest as he glanced back at the building, a grim expression on his face. "Jack is definitely in trouble."

"We need to find him, Tyler." She didn't have the skills or the resources to look for Jack on her own. "I don't know what happened between you two. But someone is clearly trying to kill him."

"I know what's happening," Tyler said tersely. "I just don't know if I want to get involved. The police can handle this."